wireless broadband to Rockbridge County
By Alex Kraus
Changes by federal regulators taking effect
this year could soon put wireless broadband Internet in reach of
Rockbridge County residents stuck on dial-up connections.
Yet these same changes could spell trouble for local Internet service
providers (ISPs), especially high-speed DSL providers, who rely on
reselling service from large telecommunication companies. Federal
deregulation of DSL costs means that consumers could potentially be
paying more for the same service, according to Communications Daily, a
trade publication for the communications industry.
A number of important rulings last year
by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Supreme Court
have given unprecedented discretion to large telecom companies. Until
now, as an extension of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the FCC
required large telecom companies to lease equipment and digital
subscriber lines (DSL) to smaller competitors at a wholesale rate. In
August, the FCC will release companies like Sprint from that obligation.
That means that local DSL providers
around the country will need to sign their own contracts with large
telecoms or else risk losing their source of income.
Of the five ISPs that the Rockbridge Report attempted to contact, none
would confirm that the changes will complicate their business. The five
local Internet providers included LexFirst, Rockbridge Global Village,
Ntelos, Covad and Rev.net.
In fact, the changes will give an
advantage to wireless ISP owners like John Cook of Lexington-based
LexFirst.
“The reason it won’t affect me is that I don’t do line sharing. I don’t
do DSL. I don’t do dial-up. I only do wireless. My relationship with
Sprint is peripheral at best,” said Cook.
LexFirst’s connection to the Internet
comes through its own DS3 line, a connection hooked directly into a
top-level fiber optic line, the so-called “backbone of the Internet.”
Cook, therefore, has bypassed the telecoms and all of the FCC rules that
regulate them. Additionally, Cook has invested in his own
wireless-disbursing equipment rather than relying on leased services.
Originally, the Telecommunications Act was intended to promote
competition among phone service providers. The FCC applied the act to
DSL service because it operates over a telephone network, unlike cable
modems or wireless Internet.
Ntelos, which provides service to rural
southwestern Virginia, uses line-sharing to provide its DSL services. A
spokesperson said that the changes will only affect large markets and
will not affect Ntelos’ service in Lexington and Rockbridge County.
“That ruling last year only impacted
large markets… New York, D.C., Atlanta, places like that,” said Mike
Minnis, director of public relations for Ntelos. “In major metropolitan
areas, incumbent carriers established that there were plenty of
competitors, so they would no longer have to sell wholesale because
there was plenty of competition.”
Cook disagrees, however, saying that because the changes affect all ISPs
nationwide that use line-sharing, the FCC has placed the discretion to
share lines in the hands of the telecoms.
“It’s up to whatever Sprint wants to do. They can say 'Yes, we’ll give
you a contract,' or they can say 'No, you’re out of business,'” he said.
Minnis did add though, that "If they [small ISPs] were going about the
business of leasing lines from a large telco [telecom], then they would
have trouble… If they’re not sold wholesale, they’re not available to
anybody.”
Even if the large telecoms decide to offer contracts to small ISPs,
there will no longer be regulation over the cost of the lines. Beginning
in August, the lines will become “non-tariffed items,” meaning their
price will be deregulated, and telecoms may charge whatever they see
fit. The new costs alone could shove out small ISPs who would need to
mark up those costs in order to make a profit.
Rockbridge Global Village president Dusan Janjic declined to comment.
However, Rockbridge Global Village recently sent an e-mail to local
information technology professionals expressing its concern about the
new deregulation, according to John White, manager of the computing help
desk at Washington and Lee University. Covad and Rev.net did not return
phone calls.
Because nearly all of the new FCC deregulations affect only DSL and
dial-up providers, residents in Rockbridge County who have subsisted on
early 1990s-era dial-up connections may soon have a glimmer of hope --
wireless broadband.
“I live in the county and I have a 40K connection on a good day when
it’s not windy and it’s not raining,” said White.
Meanwhile, Cook said he has already set up wireless access points in
downtown Lexington, Fairfield, Goshen and Fancy Hill. Cook said that
county residents who have previously been cut off from broadband
represent a huge potential market for his wireless service.
“This lets me go anywhere where I can see one of my antennas to provide
service. I put an antenna on my client’s house and if they can see my
antennas, they can talk by radio,” said Cook.
“Dial-up works, but we’re spoiled by speed,” he said.
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Claudette Artwick
Reporting supervisor: Prof. Doug Cumming
Editing supervisor: Prof. Pamela Luecke
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd